FULL STORY

It has been a crazy and jetlag-filled week, where I have had stays in the cities of Amsterdam, Miami, Los Angeles and London. I will try to fill you in on everything I have been up to as best as possible.

I mentioned last week that I played at the Armada night at Amsterdam Dance Event. It was almost like a reunion of the extended Armada family. After seeing them so often during the Ibiza season, it was strange to go over a month without seeing them all! The Armada night was broadcasted live online, and I conducted a couple of short interviews before my set, answering questions that people were sending in online. I had a lot of fun doing that, some of your screennames had everyone laughing!

Amsterdam is one of those cities that inspires me daily. The Dutch audience was one of the first groups of people that embraced the Coldharbour sound. A lot of those inspirations went in to the 2008 compilation, and hopefully for the people who listened to it, the mood and the music gave them a flavor of what the city is like.

It now makes me begin to wonder, which city will be used for the 2009 compilation?

Saturday was time to settle in to the beautiful city of Los Angeles. It is one of those places that is very unique, and as a DJ, when I played there for the first time, it was really intimidating. They expect the best of the best. I have to admit though, that I have had some of my most memorable gigs playing in LA. I would like to give a shout out to all the people who showed up at the Armani Exchange store for my set earlier in the day, I had a real blast there, and it was the perfect way to start off the evening.

Being a major city, LA caters very well for the huge rave-type gigs. One of the most famous events of this nature around the world is Monster Massive. It always occurs on the Saturday before Halloween, so everyone goes all out and dresses up to add to the atmosphere. I mentioned in the blog last week that it keeps getting bigger every year I play there, and boy had it grown this time around! There must have been a 60,000+ crowd filling the LA Sports Arena – when you see a sight like that sometimes you have to rub your eyes and remind yourself that it is real. Monster Massive is the type of gig where you want to raise the bar in terms of performance, and I was very pleased with how my set turned out.

It was a really enjoyable experience playing there again, the atmosphere was electric. I got to bump in to Judge Jules, only a week after doing the Radio 1 show with him, and also fellow German and good friend Paul van Dyk. Paul is one of the hardest working people on the planet, and what he has contributed to dance music over the years has been incredible. It must be in the German genes, work hard and be as efficient as possible.

Sunday was spent travelling back home to Miami and to try and chill as much as possible. I got back to work on Monday, beginning preparation for my gigs over the next couple of weeks. I spent a large part of Monday and Tuesday in the studio working on a remix for a track we signed to Coldharbour recently, and I am very pleased with how it has turned out. I’ll give it a roadtest and play it out in the clubs over the next while and see how the crowd reacts. That is the most exciting part about working on a production or remix – when you are in the studio you are constantly thinking about how the track is going to work on the dancefloor.

Due to having to fly to London for the DJ Mag Awards on Wednesday, I had a red eye flight from Miami on Tuesday night. So it meant that this week’s Global DJ Broadcast was recorded on the plane crossing the Atlantic. By the time I got into London, I was feeling the jetlag quite a bit. It sometimes makes you wish that the time was the same everywhere around the world. The weather in London was so cold! When landing at Heathrow Airport – there were traces of snow that had fallen the night before. But after a few cups of coffee, I got my energy levels back up to normal.

And so to Wednesday night, and the announcement of the DJ Mag Top 100 for 2008. Finding out the results was a real humbling experience to me. I can’t even begin to thank you guys enough for all your support you have given me, particularly over the past year. Whether it be at the clubs, the message boards, or listening to Global DJ Broadcast and Evolution every week, the kind words that you all say really do mean a lot. Thank you all so much. There are a few people that contribute greatly behind the scenes, that help keep me on top of things and open doors to opportunities that I think I have taken well this year. We are all continuing to grow together, and I can honestly say that I am enjoying the journey very much.

The night itself was hectic. On arriving at Ministry of Sound I had to do several interviews with DJ Mag and a couple of UK radio stations. Then it was time to watch the awards ceremony itself, and see one of my closest friends retain the accolade of number 1. I was delighted for Armin, I could tell it was a really special moment for him. Having his parents and his fiancee Erika by his side, and being able to celebrate his achievement in style. A large portion of the Armada and David Lewis Productions crew were in attendance, and in many ways, the night was a reward to them too, for all the hard work that they have done for both Armin and myself over the past year.

Meeting so many DJs backstage and catching up with them was cool. Kyau & Albert, who have had a sensational 2008, where there along with staff from Euphonic. Mark Knight, David Guetta, Deadmau5, Andy C and Mike Koglin all said hello and it was fun hanging out with them. Talking to Andy C actually made me think about the broader spectrum of dance music. He picked up the award for highest Drum & Bass DJ, like he seemingly does every year, but unfortunately there are not that many D&B DJs representing that sound in the poll. It is a shame for me really, because when I lived in London in particular, I was inspired by listening to Drum & Bass. A lot of the moody Coldharbour basslines that are in my tracks would only have been made possible by listening to that type of music.

I went on stage after Armin and played the closing set of the night. Mike Koglin was standing beside me in the DJ booth and in the middle of my set I dropped the track he did with Nick Larson, called United. The reaction to that from him was so nice. He really appreciated the support I had given him though the year with United and with his remix of Sunshade – Vertigo. But the support was most certainly warranted, because I have really enjoyed his sound in 2008.

After a couple of hours sleep (literally!), I flew back home to Miami yesterday, and today I am off to Suan Juan in Puerto Rico for this weekend’s fun and games. Once I sign off writing I have to answer a few emails and burn a few CDs of last minute edits, and then I’ll be good to go.

What I want to start doing over the next couple of months is to get more involved with the fans on my forum. If you want to register yourself at http://www.markusschulz.com/forums, and if you have any questions on any particular subject for me, then please post away and I will try my best to answer them. I feel that I should give back to you guys due to the amazing support you have given me.

Next week marks the next Global DJ Broadcast World Tour, recorded live from historical Budapest in Hungary. I am so pleased with how the set has turned out, and I can’t wait to find out what you guys will think of it. I will check in with you all again next week, where I will be looking ahead to another big weekend and another big event, Transmission.